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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

This post could have also been addressed - I flew, I bought, I conquered. And I am sorry that I've been gone this long, but workload before holidays was insane and I barely had the chance to pull it off before we flew to US.

Obviously, shopping wasn't the sole purpose of the trip, but in the end me and my hubby bought way more stuff than we even thought possible. We flew to San Francisco with 28 lb of luggage between us (2 suitcases) and flew back with 148 lb + all the stuff that we packed in our carry-on bags. So yes, quite insane.

But the thing here is that you guys that live in the States probably have no idea how lucky you all are. The clothes from the brands we like (Banana Republic, GAP, Levi's, VS, Abercrombie etc.) were so inexpensive that we bought enough clothes to last us at least a year. How lucky you are that you probably all live across the street from Bath & Bodyworks. I spent 2 hours in there and my only though now when I'm trying all the products out is that I should have bought another suitcase. And make-up...yes... but this is the story that we'll get into a bit more in-depth.

I bought both drugstore and high-end make-up. Some I got because it was so ridiculously cheap compared to prices here in Slovenia (I will try to compare prices where I can). And some I bought because I wanted to try all the new, pretty, shiny brands that were attacking me from every corner. I will try to go over the purchases in the same order I would use them. So without further ado, here is THE haul.

FACE

I must say, that I am a bit skeptical about all these gadgets that supposedly make your face feel like newborns. So I didn't go for the Clairsonic but instead opted for the less expensive version - the Olay Pro X. So far I must admit that I'm very impressed so this might just be a step towards actually getting the Clairsonic. But I can tell that I'm breaking out less and that's what's most important.

ProX also came with a pore scrub of some kind which I haven't tried out yet. I also purchased a Neutrogena purifying pore scrub. First impression - not too crazy about it. It seems kind of difficult to wash off. But it's early days still.

ProX cost about $30 , I'm not sure if you can get it in Slovenia. I did try to look for the Neutrogena scrub and couldn't find it in my local drugstore.

Next up was Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel. This was a Sephora purchase and since it was so inexpensive, I actually bought 3 instead of just 1.

Just to give you an idea - this puppy cost $26 in Sephora. In Slovenia, I would have paid $64 for the same amount. So basically, I could say that I almost bough 3 for the price of one.

BTW, I don't know why the prices of Clinique in Slovenia are so sky high. I must look into that.

BODY CARE

I can never resist a good trip to the Body Shop but I must admit it left me somewhat cold this time. I only picked up a couple of things - two of them you can see on your left. First is the Pink Grapefruit body scrub and the other body butter in Pamplemousse Rose I will not go on about the prices, because you can't buy Body Shop products in Slovenia. The only thing I will say is that I told the lady I wanted the SAME scent (so I'm not smelling of 100 different scents at once) of body scrub and body butter and only later realized what she gave me.

The thing is, though, that I cannot be mad at her. Both products smell simply amazing and are great to use. I've used the scrub a couple of times before self tanning and I've been using the butter almost every day since we got back. And both are GREAT. So yes, my romance with Body shop is still a thing. Oh, and I also picked up the pink grapefruit scent, which is amazing.

A couple of years back, I had a friend bring me a couple of Victoria's Secret products back from the states. And of course by now I forgot which ones I liked and which ones were just plain blaah. So I didn't go to crazy and only bought the Sheer love body butter and the accompanying scent.

I quite like the Eau the toilette although it wears out quite quickly compared to actual perfumes.

But I HATE, HATE, HATE the body butter. This sucker just sits on my skin doing nothing and I literally have to wait about half an hour to get dressed which is largely unacceptable by my standards. I will be donating this to some VS fanatic among my friends.

And now - the thing I have been DREADING to try but I am so happy I have - the Tarte Brazilliance Skin Rejuvenating Maracuja Face and Body Self Tanner.

This, my friends, is poetry in a bottle. I have had some quite unfortunate experience with other self tanners in the past and I purposefully chose the beginning of a rainy week to test this one out, thinking that I could get away with long pants and sleeves in case of urgency. But boy oh boy did I curse the rainy clouds every day of the week because they were the only thing preventing me from showing my beautiful tanned body (LOL) to the world.

Tarte really hit it home with this one. It really leaves the skin feeling smooth and doesn't develop that weird smell at all plus it's super easy to apply. I didn't have the best lighting in the space I was applying it and it still didn't leave a single streak or mark. So 50 points to Tarte - I'm not sure how I will be able to repurchase this again (no surprise there - not sold in Slovenia) but I will get my hands on it somehow. I believe it was around $40, worth every penny. Bought at Sephora.

Final purchase in this category was my new scent, which is the regular Chloe perfume by Chloe. I picked this baby up in Sephora for $105 (1.7 oz.). I though this was a great deal but at is turns out it costs exactly the same in Slovenia.

So this is it for this one. Next up, of course, is the goodies from the make-up aisles in which I spent quite some time. Get ready, it's going to be a long one.